1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a power supply device of a vehicle, and more particularly to a power supply device of a vehicle that has a power storage device configured to be able to be charged from outside the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-209995 (JP 2012-209995 A) discloses a vehicle that can have its on-vehicle drive battery charged by a charger from outside the vehicle via a charging cable. This charger and the vehicle each have a connection detection unit for detecting that the charging cable is connected to the vehicle.
There is a possibility that a vehicle, which can have its battery charged from outside the vehicle, starts moving without noticing that the connector of the charging cable stays connected to the inlet (charging port) of the vehicle. In such a case, the vehicle moves while dragging the charging cable, sometimes resulting in damage to the inlet or the connector. To prevent a vehicle from moving while dragging the charging cable, the vehicle is controlled so that it cannot start moving if the connection detection unit detects that the charging cable is connected to the vehicle.
However, if the connection detection unit fails, the state of connector connection cannot be detected correctly with the result that the vehicle is permitted to start moving. This meaning that, in such a case, the configuration described above cannot prevent the vehicle from starting moving while dragging the charging cable. It is therefore preferable that the operation of the connection detection unit be confirmed regularly.
However, as will be described later with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the operation confirmation of the connection detection unit, if performed in the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-209995 (JP 2012-209995 A), generates a sneak current even if the ground line is disconnected, sometimes with the result that charging is permitted. From the viewpoint of preventing an electrical leakage in the power line, it is undesirable to charge the battery with the ground line disconnected. Therefore, special care is required when performing the operation confirmation of the connection detection unit.